Apparently sometime in the last week I picked up a couple of deer ticks which I did not notice (hard to spot on black cycling shorts). This, even though I liberally applied insect repellent with DEET before my rides, which I hate to do. My rides have all been on paved trail and roads, so I am not riding through long grasses, etc. I wound up with two bites, just above the band of my cycling shorts (how they got past the elastic band, I do not know). On Thursday I noticed two dime sized red welts about two inches apart on my leg, and since they were itchy, applied Benadryl ointment, figuring they were mosquito bites. By Friday morning, I had the classic concentric circle rash of Lyme. Saw my doctor and am now on three weeks of antibiotics. Hopefully the side-effects of the antibiotics will not be too bad. They are a real pain to take - one hour before eating, or two hours after eating, and at least two hours before/after anything containing calcium - maybe I'll shed a few pounds since there is never a good time to eat Other than the rash, no other symptoms of Lyme, so far. The rash around one of the bites burns like crazy and the Benadryl is not helping much. Last fall, I picked up a deer tick while hiking, but found it before it got me. I am getting a little paranoid about these guys (okay - the females are the ones that bite). Do any of you who live in "Lyme territory" have any suggestions?